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 A
Family Story by
M.M. |
| When we
were growing up, we did not have a mother or father to depend on, only
our grandmother and grandfather. My mother died when I was small and my
father went away to another country, so I did not know him either. My
grandparents took care of us the best way they could. They were my mother’s
parents, and were good people. We went to church on Sunday. They sent
us to school when they could. They were up in years so they could not
do too much, but they did their best for us and I love them for that. It was hard to be without mother and father in our young days. Everything that you do is hard. The only way another person can talk about it is if he or she has to pass through the same thing in life. Sometimes you just want to talk to your parents and they are not there. It’s hard to talk to strangers when you just want to talk to you mother. A mother is the best thing in life for her children. Your mother is your best friend, I don’t care how you take it. If my mother were alive today, I would make sure that she lived with me in America. I would take her for walks and to the movies. We would sit in the sunshine, read books, hold hands, talk, eat, laugh, sing, and we would go to church. We would travel to different countries and places, such as Italy, France, Australia, Alaska, and Hawaii and other islands that we never saw before. After we grew up, my brother came to the U.S.A. and I stayed home to care for our grandparents until they died. My grandfather went first, then my grandmother, four years later. It was hard, but I did my best for both of them. After my brother returned home to Jamaica from America, he went on to England. He did not want to stay home anymore, so he went and never returned. He said that he didn’t have anyone left in Jamaica, so it was better to stay in England and have his own family. Even now he says that he won’t go back. Some time ago I said to him, “Let us go home and buy a house.” He said, “No, I am not going out there.” My brother and I were very close when we were young, but now that he is so far away, we don’t see each other as much as we would like. |